Frederick William, Prince Of Solms-Braunfels
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Prince Frederick William of Solms-Braunfels (11 January 1696 in
Braunfels Braunfels () is a town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Geography Location The climatic spa of Braunfels lies at a height of some 100 m above the Lahn valley. It is 9 km southwes ...
– 24 February 1761, Braunfels) was the first
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
of
Solms-Braunfels Solms-Braunfels was a County and later Principality with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hesse in Germany. History Solms-Braunfels was a partition of Solms, ruled by the House of Solms, and was raised to a Princi ...
. He was the son of Count Wilhelm Moritz of Solms-Braunfels (1651–1724) and his wife Princess Magdalene Sophie of
Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and a sovereign member of the German Confederation, which consisted of the lordship of Homburg at the foot of the Taunus, which was then known as ''Die Höhe'' ("the Heights"). The reigning princ ...
(1660–1720), a daughter of
William Christoph, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg William Christoph of Hesse-Homburg (13 November 1625, Ober-Rosbach – 27 August 1681, then in Bingenheim, now in Echzell) was the second Landgraf of Hesse-Homburg (then known as "Landgraf of Bingenheim") during 1648–1669. He was the third ...
, and his first wife Princess
Sophia Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt Sophia Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt (7 January 1634 in Darmstadt – 7 October 1663 in Bingenheim, now part of Echzell), was Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt by birth and by marriage Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg. She was a daughter of Landgrave Ge ...
.


Life

Frederick William received an aristocratic education. When his father died on 18 February 1724, he became Count of Solms-Braunfels,
Greifenstein Greifenstein is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Its administrative seat is Beilstein. Greifenstein covers 67.43 km2 on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range. It was named for the Greifenstein Castle (Hesse), ...
and
Hungen Hungen () is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 20 km southeast of Gießen, and 18 km northeast of Friedberg. Surrounding towns are Laubach to the north, Nidda to the east, Wölfersheim to the south ...
,
Tecklenburg Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail. The coat of arms shows an anchor ...
,
Kriechingen The County of Kriechingen was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was originally a part of the Duchy of Lorraine and was raised to an imperial estate in 1617. It belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle. In 1697, Kriechingen was inherited by the Pri ...
and
Lingen Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2024, its population was 59,896 with 2,262 people who had registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is located on the river Ems ...
, Lord of
Münzenberg Münzenberg is a town in the Wetteraukreis district in Hesse, Germany. It is located 13 km north of Friedberg, Hesse, Friedberg, and 16 km southeast of Gießen. Münzenberg Castle is located outside the town. Population development B ...
,
Wildenfels Wildenfels () is a municipality in Germany, Landkreis Zwickau in Saxony. It is situated 9 km southeast of Zwickau. The construction of Wildenfels castle was begun before 1200 by the lords of Wildenfels. Between 1440 and 1706 it was a fief w ...
,
Sonnewalde Sonnewalde is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 8 km northwest of Finsterwalde. History From 1815 to 1947, Sonnewalde was part of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg. From 1952 to 199 ...
,
Püttlingen Püttlingen () is a town in Saarland, Germany, 10 km northwest of Saarbrücken. Geography The town lies in the Köller Valley, approximately 20 km to the northwest of Saarbrücken and 5 km north of Völklingen. Going in a clockwis ...
, Dortweiler and Beaucourt. However, because of his poor health, he did not rule much personally. He did, however, succeed in his marriage policy, which allowed his children to marry into powerful families around the country. Financial difficulties forced him to sell the city of
Butzbach Butzbach () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district in Hessen, Germany. It is located approximately 16 km south of Gießen and 35 km north of Frankfurt am Main. In 2007, the town hosted the 47th Hessentag state festival from 1 to 10 Jun ...
, which his family had owned since 1478, to
Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt () was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse among the four sons of Landgrave Philip I. ...
on 17 March 1741. On 22 May 1742, Emperor Charles VII raised the
House of Solms-Braunfels Solms-Braunfels was a County and later Principality with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hesse in Germany. History Solms-Braunfels was a partition of Solms, ruled by the House of Solms, and was raised to a Principa ...
to the rank of
Imperial Prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...
. When Friedrich Wilhelm died in 1761, he was succeeded by his son Ferdinand Wilhelm Ernst.


Marriage and issue

He was married three times. His first wife was Princess Magdalena Henrietta of
Nassau-Weilburg The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...
(1691-1725), the daughter of John Ernst of Nassau-Weilburg. They had the following children: * Ferdinand, Prince of Solms-Braunfels (8 February 1721 – 2 October 1783), married Countess Sophie Christine Wilhelmine of
Solms-Laubach Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of Solms had its origins in Solms, Hesse. History Solms-Laubach was originally created as a partition of Solms-Lich. In 1537 Philip, Count of S ...
(1741-1772) * Magdalena Polyxena Maria Casimira (17 July 1722 – 17 November 1722) * Charlotte Henriette Magdalene Wilhelmine (15 August 1725 – 29 April 1785) On 9 May 1726 he married his second wife, Countess Sophia Magdalena Benigna of Solms-Utphe, the daughter of Count Karl Otto of Solms-Laubach-Utphe-Tecklenburg and Countess Louise Albertine of Schönburg-Waldenburg. They had the following children: * Charles William Louis (14 June 1727 –14/15 December 1812) * William Christopher (20 June 1732 – 8 December 1811) * Rudolph Louis William (25 August 1733 – 2 January 1809) * William Alexander (7 March 1736 – 12 March 1738) * Anton Friedrich William (3 September 1739 – 7 February 1812) * Elizabeth Marie Louise Benigna (5 August 1728 – 19 June 1795) * Ulrike Louise (30 April 1731 – 12 September 1792), married on 10 October 1746
Frederick IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg Frederick IV Charles Louis William of Hesse-Homburg (15 April 1724 in Braunfels – 7 February 1751 in Bad Homburg), was Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. Life Frederick Charles was born at Castle Braunfels as the first child of Prince Casimi ...
(1724–1751) * Amalie Eleonore (22 November 1734 – 19 April 1811), married on 16 December 1765 Prince Charles Louis, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym (1723–1806) * Carolina Albertina (12 December 1740 – 26 February 1742) * Magdalena Sophie (4 June 1742 – 21 January 1819), married on 22 April 1778 to Prince Victor Amadeus of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym (1744-1790) * Christine Friederike Charlotte (30 August 1744 – 16 December 1823), married on 26 March 1780 to Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold (1727–1782) His third wife was the Countess Palatine Charlotte Catherine of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen (1699–1785), the daughter of
John Charles, Count Palatine of Gelnhausen John Charles, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld at Gelnhausen (17 October 1638 – 21 February 1704), was a German prince and ancestor of the cadet branch of the royal family of Bavaria known, from the early 19th century, as Dukes in Bavaria. He to ...
and his second wife Esther Maria of Witzleben-Elgersburg. This marriage remained childless.


References

* ''Geschichte des Grafen- und Fürstenhauses Solms''
online


External links

*
House of Solms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick William of Solms-Braunfels House of Solms-Braunfels House of Solms Counts of Solms 1696 births 1761 deaths 18th-century German people